Fans To Vote For Winners On NFL.com

Quarterbacks CARSON PALMER of the Cincinnati Bengals, PHILIP RIVERS of the San Diego Chargers and TONY ROMO of the Dallas Cowboys are the finalists for the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week honors for games played on October 25 – 26, while running backs CEDRIC BENSON of the Cincinnati Bengals, RYAN GRANT of the Green Bay Packers and SHONN GREENE of the New York Jets are the finalists for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week, the NFL announced today.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through noon EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air & Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday evening on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air & Ground program, FedEx continues its support of Safe Kids USA – a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children – by making weekly $1,000 donations in the winning players’ names. The funding, allocated to local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, is used for pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year, from upgraded crosswalks and street signage to traffic barriers and educational training.

For a second season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air & Ground Lowdown” posted exclusively on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air & Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s RICH EISEN and MARSHALL FAULK host the weekly five-minute show.

• San Diego’s PHILIP RIVERS completed 18 of 30 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns in the Chargers’ 37 – 7 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

• Dallas’ TONY ROMO completed 21 of 29 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 37 – 21 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

• Cincinnati’s CEDRIC BENSON rushed 37 times for 189 yards and one touchdown in the Bengals’ 45 – 10 win over the Chicago Bears.

• Green Bay’s RYAN GRANT rushed for 148 yards and one touchdown, carrying the ball 27 times in the Packers’ 31 – 3 win over the Cleveland Browns.

• New York Jets’ SHONN GREENE rushed for 144 yards and two touchdowns in the Jets’ 38 – 0 win over the Oakland Raiders.

As the Official Delivery Service Sponsor of the NFL, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl, FedEx understands the need for a winning game plan, and created the Air & Ground program to highlight superior on-field performance while delivering safe kids off the field. Because FedEx has thousands of delivery trucks out on the roads each day, the company is committed to funding pedestrian safety improvements through its 10-year partnership with Safe Kids USA.

Conflicting reports across the Cowboys media outlets have me concerned about Miles Austin. The wide receiver who was expected to step up this season hasn’t really given anyone reason to believe he can do his share for this team.

During the offseason Austin visited the New York Jets and fans were concerned about him possibly leaving the team. Turns out in hindsight that might not have been such a bad idea.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a Miles Austin ‘hater’, I really like the guy and we’ve seen his potential and his smile lights up the stadium when he’s hauling in touchdowns. However, can he stay healthy?

Well, now they say Austin should be back to practice on Wednesday after being sidelined and missing numerous practices due to a sore hamstring. He was out last season, and this isn’t what you would call a nice start to a fresh new season.

The same thing can be said of Sam Hurd. Even our new number one Roy Williams has already been injured. These guys are way too young to be hurt so much, so early.

I should mention that Hurd and Williams did practice fully on Monday. I’m pretty sure Roy will be A-OK. Oh, and as for our youngest and newest receiver – Kevin Ogletree’s eye contusion seems to be all better as well.

Thank God we have a killer running back squad and arguably the best tight ends in the league, or I might be a little bit worried about our offense. Crazy thing is, there are people that have been arguing this point since the release of ‘you know who’ and I’ve ignored it and stood up for the WRs.

But you know what, maybe finally letting go of Isaiah Stanback is a sign that the ‘Boys have no more patience for lingering injuries…

Honestly, I hope they all recover and have a great year. That may be too optimistic but hey that’s what fans do!

This time it’s former Dallas QB Quincy Carter throwing out the blame for his failed NFL career. As reported on ProFootballTalk.com in a videotaped interview on DFWReporting.com. Carter blames Jerry Jones for releasing him for a failed drug test and poor performance at the start of training camp in 2004. Calling it a “Billionaire Power Play”.

“When you got a quarterback who’s . . . failing drug tests, that would weigh heavy on me if I was a billionaire owner and I owned the Dallas Cowboys I would have to make some business decisions, too,” Carter said. “Now how he went about it was just — that was bad. . . . You just don’t do people like that and just leave them in the dust like that.”

Carter also believes he would still be the starting QB for the Cowboys if he was never released…

“Tony Romo wouldn’t even be playing for the Cowboys right now,”

Carter filed a grievance against the Cowboys challenging his termination, but that failed. Carter made some strong comments against owner Jerry Jones…

“The main reason I think I lost it [is] because the NFLPA weren’t able to come up with the actual press conference where Jerry Jones said he is not releasing me because of my play,”

“I think honestly that he had the NFL . . . lose those tapes. That’s how much power — and I know because how close I was to him and how much I got into . . . being a Dallas Cowboy, I know how much power he has within the whole NFL.”

Quincy Carter was the Cowboys starting QB in 2003, which was Bill Parcells first year in Dallas. Carter and the Cowboys went 10-6 in 2003 and lost to the Panthers in the playoffs 29-10. He threw for 3,302 yards to go along with his 17 touchdown passes and 21 interceptions. In his four year NFL career which was from 2001-04 Carter had 6,337 yards passing, 32 TD’s and 37 INT’s. His last season which was 2004 he played for the New York Jets.

2. St Louis Rams – OT Jake Long – Michigan – SR 6’7335 lbs. (With all the problems on the offensive line for the Rams, they would be dummy’s for letting Long get passed them, for he can be the anchor of that O-line for the next 10 years.)

3. Atlanta Falcons – QB Matt Ryan – Boston College – SR 6’4228 lbs. (With Falcon fans still reeling from the Michael Vick saga, QB is the biggest need for this organization. Playing QB Roulette last year with has-beens as well didn’t help the cause.)

4. Oakland Raiders – RB Darren McFadden – Arkansas – JR 6’1211 lbs. (The Raiders need a Star at Running Back. With McFadden’s speed and size, Al Davis would be a total moron not to draft the Best running back of the 2008 draft.)

5. Kansas City Chiefs – DT Glenn Dorsey – LSU – SR 6’1310 lbs. (The Chiefs have pressing needs in many areas but D-Line is one of the biggest.)

6. New York Jets – DT Sedrick Ellis – USC – SR 6’0309 lbs. (The Jets had absolutely no pass rush in 2007. Selecting Ellis not only makes sense but the guy can dominate the inside forcing teams who use a ground game to go vertical more often than they want.)

7. New England Patriots – DE Vernon Gholston – Ohio State – SR 6’4255lbs. (With New England getting a taste of the blitz happy New York Giants in Super Bowl 42, the aging Patriots LB Core could use a shot of the fountain of youth and return the favor to opposing offenses in 2008.)

10. New Orleans Saints – CB Aqib Talib – Kansas – JR 6’2205 lbs. (The Saints should be not only ecstatic but should be counting their blessings that Talib fell this far. Talib immediately starts and helps a defense that gave up the big play way too often in 2007.)

14. Chicago Bears – QB Joe Flacco – Delaware (1AA)- SR 6’6231 lbs. (With all the problems the Bears have had in past few years at QB, Flacco immediately comes in and give Grossman a run for his money. Flacco displayed the best and strongest arm at the NFL Combine.)

16. Arizona Cardinals – CB Mike Jenkins – South Florida – SR 5’11200 lbs. (Rated as the best cover corner in many draft boards, Jenkins will make an impact early and often in the Cardinal’s secondary.)

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – WR Mario Manningham – Michigan – JR 6’0188 lbs. (With the Bucs offense lacking a complimentary receiver to Joey Galloway in 2007, teams doubled him in the latter part of the season. Manningham will provide Galloway much needed relief and could eventually replace him.)

21. Washington Redskins – FS Kenny Phillips – Miami – JR 6’2210 lbs. ( With the tragic loss of Sean Taylor, the redskins will once again have one of the best one two punch at safety in the NFL with Phillips and Landry.)

24. Tennessee Titans – WR James Hardy – Indiana – JR 6’6220 lbs. (Having the best size of any receiver in the draft, Hardy will provide the possession receiver that Vince Young has sorely missed since his Texas days.)

25. Seattle Seahawks – TE Dustin Keller – Purdue – SR 6’3244 lbs. (Seattle has never had a great pass catching TE and Keller has been the most consistent pass catching TE in college football in the past 2 years. Need anything more?)

26. Jacksonville Jaguars – RB Felix Jones – Arkansas – JR 5’10210 lbs. (Even though RB Fred Taylor was voted to his first Pro bowl, he isn’t getting any younger. The Jaguars going to the 2 back system will add some burst to Taylor’s legs in the latter part of the season.)

29. San Francisco 49ers (*via trade with Colts) – WR Devin Thomas – Michigan State – JR 6’2220 lbs. (With the 49ers lacking any star receivers, Thomas is the best receiver left on the board. He is tall and can run the deep pattern.)

Just in case you have ever wondered how the Cowboys have matched up against other NFL teams through the years, I have put together something you might be interested in.

Below you can see the Cowboys win/loss record against each team in the NFL since 1960. I snagged the info from the 2006 media guide and updated the records by adding the wins/losses from the 2007 season. The totals below are from the regular season and the playoffs. It does not include pre-season play.

Arizona Cardinals

55-28-1

Atlanta Falcons

15-8

Baltimore Ravens

0-2

Buffalo Bills

7-3

Carolina Panthers

7-3

Chicago Bears

13-8

Cincinnati Bengals

5-4

Cleveland Browns

11-17

Denver Broncos

5-5

Detroit Lions

12-10

Green Bay Packers

15-12

Houston Texans

1-1

Indianapolis Colts

8-6

Jacksonville Jaguars

2-2

Kansas City Chiefs

5-3

Miami Dolphins

5-7

Minnesota Vikings

14-12

New England Patriots

7-3

New Orleans Saints

14-8

New York Giants

54-36-2

New York Jets

7-2

Oakland Raiders

3-6

Philadelphia Eagles

54-43

Pittsburgh Steelers

15-14

St. Louis Rams

14-14

San Diego Chargers

6-2

San Francisco 49ers

14-16-1

Seattle Seahawks

6-5

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

9-3

Tennessee Titans

7-5

Washington Redskins

56-38-2

Keep in mind that these records reflect games with Dallas when some of these teams were under other names and/or played in other cities than they do now.

For example, the record against the Tennessee Titans also reflects games played against the Cowboys when the Titans were known as the Houston Oilers.

It is interesting to note that out of the 31 other teams in the NFL, the Cowboys have a winning record against 22 of those teams, they have a losing record against 5 teams (Ravens, Browns, Dolphins, Raiders and 49ers), and their record is at .500 with 4 teams (Broncos, Texans, Jaguars, and Rams).

2. St Louis Rams – OT Jake Long – Michigan – SR 6’7335 lbs. (With all the problems on the offensive line for the Rams, they would be dummy’s for letting Long get passed them, for he can be the anchor of that O-line for the next 10 years.)

3. Atlanta Falcons – QB Matt Ryan – Boston College – SR 6’4228 lbs. (With Falcon fans still reeling from the Michael Vick saga, QB is the biggest need for this organization. Playing QB Roulette last year with has-beens as well didn’t help the cause.)

4. Dallas Cowboys (*Via trade with the Oakland Raiders) – RB Darren McFadden – Arkansas – JR 6’1211 lbs. (Jerry Jones stated in the off-season that he wanted to add that wow factor to his offense and with his close ties and alliance with Al Davis, this was a no-brainer. McFadden & Barber will be ravaging defenses for the next 5 years.)

5. Kansas City Chiefs – DT Glenn Dorsey – LSU – SR 6’1 310 lbs. (The Chiefs have pressing needs in many areas but D-Line is one of the biggest.)

6. New York Jets – DT Sedrick Ellis – USC – SR 6’0309 lbs. (The Jets had absolutely no pass rush in 2007. Selecting Ellis not only makes sense but the guy can dominate the inside forcing teams who use a ground game to go vertical more often than they want.)

7. New England Patriots – DE Vernon Gholston – Ohio State – SR 6’4255lbs. (With New England getting a taste of the blitz happy New York Giants in Super Bowl 42, the aging Patriots LB Core could use a shot of the fountain of youth and return the favor to opposing offenses in 2008.)

10. New Orleans Saints – CB Aqib Talib – Kansas – JR 6’2205 lbs. (The Saints should be not only ecstatic but should be counting their blessings that Talib fell this far. Talib immediately starts and helps a defense that gave up the big play way too often in 2007.)

14. Chicago Bears – QB Joe Flacco – Delaware (1AA)- SR 6’6231 lbs. (With all the problems the Bears have had in past few years at QB, Flacco immediately comes in and give Grossman a run for his money. Flacco displayed the best and strongest arm at the NFL Combine.)

16. Arizona Cardinals – CB Mike Jenkins – South Florida – SR 5’11200 lbs. (Rated as the best cover corner in many draft boards, Jenkins will make an impact early and often in the Cardinal’s secondary.)

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers – WR Mario Manningham – Michigan – JR 6’0188 lbs. (With the Bucs offense lacking a complimentary receiver to Joey Galloway in 2007, teams doubled him in the latter part of the season. Manningham will provide Galloway much needed relief and could eventually replace him.)

21. Washington Redskins – FS Kenny Phillips – Miami – JR 6’2210 lbs. ( With the tragic loss of Sean Taylor, the redskins will once again have one of the best one two punch at safety in the NFL with Phillips and Landry.)

24. Tennessee Titans – WR James Hardy – Indiana – JR 6’6220 lbs. (Having the best size of any receiver in the draft, Hardy will provide the possession receiver that Vince Young has sorely missed since his Texas days.)

25. Seattle Seahawks – TE Dustin Keller – Purdue – SR 6’3244 lbs. (Seattle has never had a great pass catching TE and Keller has been the most consistent pass catching TE in college football in the past 2 years. Need anything more?)

26. Jacksonville Jaguars – RB Felix Jones – Arkansas – JR 5’10210 lbs. (Even though RB Fred Taylor was voted to his first Pro bowl, he isn’t getting any younger. The Jaguars going to the 2 back system will add some burst to Taylor’s legs in the latter part of the season.)

29. San Francisco 49ers (*via trade with Colts) – WR Devin Thomas – Michigan State – JR 6’2220 lbs. (With the 49ers lacking any star receivers, Thomas is the best receiver left on the board. He is tall and can run the deep pattern.)